


Smooth Criminal

by niennavalier



Series: Coldflash Drabbles [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Barry Allen Singing, CFFAF, Day 1, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Humor, Leonard Snart Singing, M/M, Mild Feels, Singing, Smooth Criminal, White Christmas, coldflash - Freeform, coldflash for a fortnight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2018-07-11 06:50:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7034374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niennavalier/pseuds/niennavalier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Len finds out Barry can sing. Barry's pretty sure he's ready to die of embarrassment.</p><p>Day 1 of Coldflash For a Fortnight</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this for Day 1 of Coldflash for a Fortnight (Fable, Festival, and Serenade were the three words). Using "serenade" as the inspiration.

     It was no secret that Barry Allen liked to sing. For the most part, that secret had gotten out thanks to a certain unfortunate incident involving a very drunk Caitlin and a karaoke bar. Beyond that, he didn’t know how exactly, but between her and Iris, it didn’t take long before the entirety of Team Flash and friends (as well as a good chunk of Team Arrow) was aware of Barry’s vocal capabilities. He’d come to terms with that, but it still didn’t mean that _everyone_ in his life knew just yet, and he rather liked keeping it that way.

     Not like that meant he enjoyed singing _for_ people. Not at all. Okay, maybe there’d been this…phase, for lack of a better term, when he might’ve enjoyed it in high school, but that was it! Ever since he’d graduated – and especially ever since he’d cringed over some of those videos that’d somehow made it onto YouTube – he’d made sure to keep any and all singing to himself. Iris and Joe were the only other people who knew about that time of his life (and Felicity, who had laughed her head off before erasing every trace of those videos, Barry having literally begged her to do so). And he was gonna keep it that way. No more singing to anyone – Caitlin had been an exception, too drunk for him to really say no – and maybe he could manage to take this all with him to his grave.

     But that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy it still. Because he did, just in the privacy of his own apartment, when he was bored and doing something horribly mundane. Honestly, it was hard _not to_ some times; he couldn’t help it if some catchy melody worked its way into his head, okay?

     After all, that’s what’d happened that day – Iris had been humming all through their lunch, and now? Barry was making dinner, hours later, his phone all but blasting the music as he sang along. Given cooking was something he couldn’t rush, even with his powers, well, it stood to reason he’d need something else to occupy his time. Singing a song he’d enjoyed in high school just happened to fit the bill.

     Problem was, it might’ve occupied him a little too much.

     Everything was going smoothly as he faced away from the stove, toward a wall, minding his own business. But then he turned around to check on the food –

     And froze, the next lyrics caught in his throat.

     Why he’d ever thought it was a good idea to date a world-class criminal, he didn’t know.

     Len smirked from where he leaned near the entryway, having walked in without Barry realizing it. “By all means, keep going. Don’t stop on my account, Scarlet.”

     Barry could feel his face turn beet-red as he stuttered, “How long have you been, uh, you know…” He gestured toward where Len was standing.

     “Long enough to know _someone’s_ been holding out on me.” Len pushed off the wall, stalking toward Barry, who found it physically impossible to peel his eyes away. At least, until Len had come closer, glancing at the phone and nodding slightly in its direction, meaning clear, as Barry’s own gaze shot directly to the floor; he’d really been hoping that when Len found out, it wouldn’t be as he was belting out pop songs in the middle of the kitchen.

     Too bad he didn’t have much of a choice anymore, catching onto the last round of the chorus (thank whatever entity was out there that he’d accidentally clicked on a shortened version of the song and had been too lazy to change it).

 _“Annie, are you OK?_  
So, Annie, are you OK?  
Are you OK, Annie?  
You've been hit by,  
You've been struck by  
A smooth criminal.”

     Barry gulped as the accompaniment faded away, pretty sure he was halfway to actually, literally dying of embarrassment. He had never wanted to curse the irony of song choice (or of anything, really) more than he did in that moment. And Len just standing there, watching him with interest, was definitely not helping his brain get kickstarted again, either.

     “Iris was, um, humming that earlier today and I guess it kinda got stuck in my head so…I think I’ll just go run to the Grand Canyon for a sec…”

     But Len caught Barry’s arm before he could get anywhere, pulling him back in close. “Not so fast there, Scarlet.” He grinned. “Any reason you’ve been keeping this particular secret from me? You _were_ basically serenading me back there.” Dammit, that smirk should _not_ be doing so many things to him! Because his brain short-circuiting was really not helpful.

     “Is my mortification not enough reason for you?” Barry tried to avoid the question. To which Len tilted his head, considering.

     “Fair enough.” He leaned in, catching Barry’s lips with his, and _goddammit the things Len was doing with his mouth should really be illegal_. Barry could feel himself coming apart on the spot, guarded embarrassment falling away, chasing after Len as he pulled away, a familiarly mischievous gleam in his eyes. “What was the name of that friend of yours, again? Felicity? Would she happen to be able to dig up whatever dirty little secret you’re hiding from me?”

     Barry jolted back into alertness soon enough to watch as Len backed away. “Wait – what?! Len – no!” _Oh, that was evil. Like, supervillain-level of evil_. _No, actually, it was **criminal**_ **.** The speedster turned off the stove and raced away to stop his oh-so-inconsiderate boyfriend from calling up super-hacker Felicity Smoak, who would be all too willing to share the videos Barry had asked her to delete (but was sure she had backed up somewhere).

     This was not gonna be a fun night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry didn't die of embarrassment that day, and for that he's glad. Because the night the tables turn is one he'll never forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been dying to do a sequel to this and never quite got around to finishing it, so here you all go! Enjoy!

     Barry blinked awake in the darkness of his room, not really sure just what it was that’d woken him. There hadn’t been any dreams to speak of recently, not bad ones, at least, so Barry saw literally no reason he should be awake at – he squinted through sleep at the clock – 3:30 AM. For real, why the hell _was_ he awake? Pretty much everyone he knew could testify he was that person who could sleep through hailstorms if he put his mind to it. Really, when he was asleep, he was _asleep._ Dead to the world. There were very few things that would change that. So he rolled over, reaching lazily through the darkness for…nothing, apparently. Oh. Maybe that had something to do with why he’d woken up for literally no reason. (Well, not no reason technically but…well, either way, he was awake).

     Drowsily, he patted the cold bed as if he could’ve somehow missed an entire human body (he hadn’t, at least he could confirm that) before sluggishly pushing himself into an awkward sitting position. “Len…?” he mumbled into the dark, rubbing his eyes. “Len?” he asked again when he didn’t get a response, slightly more alert and vaguely worried. This wasn’t the first time Barry had woken up at odd hours to find himself without Len at his side, and some of those other times, he’d found his then-boyfriend-now-husband curled on the floor, trying to calm himself through his own panic. Nightmares were an unfortunate common ground for them, and somehow both of them could tell when it was one of those nights they couldn’t catch their breath, images branded in their mind’s eyes. When they needed the other to make the world right again.

     Except…no, that wasn’t the case, the room far too quiet. Len just…wasn’t there. Barry climbed out of bed, wandering out of the room, opening the door quietly, finally catching onto the sound of soft voices, the light spilling out from under the door to Michael’s room. That caught his attention, had him cocking his head as he listened more carefully, padded his way softly down the hall.

     “But what if something does happen?”

     “Then I’d never let anyone hurt you, ever.”

     Barry swore he felt his heart melt. Len never sounded quite like that, tone so soft and gentle and reassuring, except for when he was talking to Michael. Similar, but at the same time not to how he and Barry spoke, even though Barry couldn’t quite describe why, just knew it was another side to the man he loved. The side of Len that was such an amazing father, no matter how much he’d doubted himself, feared turning out like Lewis, when Michael had first been dropped in their lives just a year ago.

     It’d been almost random, a whole affair regarding Michael’s mother coming just as Barry and Len had finally begun to feel comfortable in their own relationship. Barry hadn’t seen it coming; Len, of course, had already had some idea, and Barry had almost wanted to be, well, not angry that his boyfriend hadn’t bothered to mention it, but definitely upset. The anger hadn’t come into play until Len had started to push him away. He’d even had a whole confrontation in mind, where and when and how he’d get Len to explain all of this. But then Len had come back from some relevant official meeting that Barry wasn’t privy to, and there’d been fear in his eyes. Well concealed, but still there.

     Any arguments Barry had prepared vaporized on the spot. After that, everything started to make sense. Len’s hesitance and reluctance, the need to push away everyone, keep them out of harm’s way, lessen the collateral damage if he did turn out like his father. How badly he’d wanted to do things right and feared all of it going wrong.

     They’d come a long way since then. Although Barry had known from the start what an incredible father Len would be. He was just glad his husband could finally start to believe that, too.

     Barry had no idea how long he’d been lost to his own thoughts, was just aware of that fact when he heard something from inside the room.

     “ _When I’m worried, and I can’t sleep,”_ – Len’s voice. Len could sing? Barry hadn’t known that – “ _I count my blessings, instead of sheep. And I fall asleep, counting my blessings.”_

     Barry couldn’t even think of words as he stood in the hallway, rooted to the spot, listening. Len could sing. Really well. Barry had always loved Len’s voice in general, but he never would’ve guessed. Yeah, Len was good at a lot of things, and maybe Barry shouldn’t be so surprised but…Len was singing. To their son. He could feel his heart swell in his chest.

     In too short a time, Barry could hear Len’s footsteps headed toward the door, but he didn’t quite have the presence of mind to move, being met with blue eyes wide with surprise. It wasn’t often he could catch Len unaware.

     “Barry?” He regained his composure quickly. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

     “No, no I just…I saw you weren’t in bed so I came out here to look for you and…” Barry rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling like he’d been caught spying on something he wasn’t meant to. Maybe he had been, in a way.

     “Michael had a nightmare, and I figured you could use the sleep.”

     “Yeah, no, I - thanks but…” Barry let a grin touch his lips, “I didn’t know you could sing like that.” And Len…Len actually looked embarrassed for a moment, averting his eyes before nodding that they should head back to their room rather than stand awkwardly in the hall. The door closed behind them, Barry couldn’t help but continue. “Len, I’m not upset or anything, I just…you’re really good.”

     Len smirked a little at that, more his usual self. “Doubt I quite hold a candle to you, Scarlet.”

     “I’d beg to differ.”

     Len’s smirk shifted to a more genuine smile as he sat on the bed, Barry quick to join him, the atmosphere just barely tense around them, but like this was important – not like it was bad. “Used to sing to Lisa when we were kids. Not that often. When our dad was in prison and she was too young to know what was wrong. Or nights he’d passed out, too drunk to be mad about it.” Len took a breath, and Barry let his hand migrate on top of Len’s, rubbing soft circles with his thumb. “Helped her sleep. After something happened that day, or she’d have a nightmare. She stopped asking, once we were older.” His smile turned a shade more playful. “Probably a little rusty by now.”

     “Never would’ve guessed.” Barry mirrored the smile back, kissing his husband because he just couldn’t help himself. God, he loved this man so much, more than he could really put into words. All he knew was that, the more he learned about Len, the more the whole world felt so right just because they could be together, because they fit so well together.

     Len echoed Barry’s sentiment, kissing him back, eventually laying them back down against the pillows, tangled together, warm and comfortable and happy and safe in each other’s arms. They began to doze off like that before waking up enough to pull the blankets over them. In those few moments, a handful of lyrics cleared in Barry’s mind, and he let the words run past his lips, relevant or not. “ _The best things, happen while you’re dancing…_ ”

     He felt more than heard Len’s soft chuckle, a warm rumble in his chest, followed by a sleepily mumbled, “Go to sleep, Barry.”

     Barry laughed, too, and proceeded to snuggle more tightly against his sweet, perfect husband, taken by pleasant dreams soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Wentworth can sing, and he has a wonderful voice. If anyone hasn't heard and wants to, I can 100% supply links - I listen to those videos way too much. And if anyone's curious, Len is singing "Count Your Blessings" from White Christmas, which was a recommendation from an IRL friend. And Barry is singing the start of "The Best Things Happen While Your Dancing" also from White Christmas.

**Author's Note:**

> Yup, my friend has been wanting this for a while. So have I, but I've had other stuff. But now I had an excuse. Not sorry at all.


End file.
